East Penn may upgrade Emmaus playing fields

District wants improvements at Emmaus Community Park and Williams Street.

March 25, 2010|By Sarah Fulton | SPECIAL TO THE MORNING CALL

FOR THE RECORD (Published Friday, March 26, 2010) East Penn School Board member Mike Policano voted in favor of pursuing an agreement with Emmaus to upgrade ball fields for use by the district. His vote was incorrectly listed in a story Thursday. Board members Samuel Rhodes and Terry Richwine cast the two "no" votes. - 3/26/2010

The East Penn School Board will negotiate terms with Emmaus to work together on improving baseball and softball fields that will be upgraded for use by the high school sports teams.

If a deal is struck, it would end the district's need to build a baseball field for more than $1 million.

School directors voted Monday to pursue a partnership with the borough to upgrade the baseball field at Emmaus Community Park and the Williams Street softball field. The district set a spending limit of $300,000 for the baseball field and $100,000 for the softball field. The district would lease the fields from the borough.

The project calls for major improvements at both ball fields. District Operations Director Lynn Glancy said at the baseball field, home plate would have to be moved to make room for new, larger bleachers and dugouts, grass would be planted in the infield and new fencing would be installed. At the softball field, new, larger bleachers, dugouts and fencing would be installed.

School board President Alan Earnshaw said the partnership would cost far less than the district's previous plan to build a baseball field in Wescosville, which would have cost $1 million.

About 75 people attended the meeting, including Emmaus High School baseball boosters and team members who are in favor of the projects.

Don Frazier, a coach and parent of two former high school baseball players, reminded the board that discussions about an appropriate baseball field began in 1999 and still, the team is playing on a field borrowed from Lower Macungie Township. He urged school directors to move forward with the proposal.

''Such partnership between government entities has been sorely lacking in the past,'' said Robert Stevens, a township resident and parent of a baseball player.

District officials are not yet sure how much the total field improvements will cost, but the school board's limit of contribution is set as of Monday's vote.

Superintendent Thomas Seidenberger said the borough would maintain the fields and the district would lease them to have exclusive use. Other events or teams would play on the fields around the district's schedule. A lease agreement is in the works and has not yet been reviewed by school directors.

''We're trying to set a max so at the onset you know what the liability is,'' Seidenberger said of the district's potential financial commitment of $400,000 for both projects.

''I think this is very doable,'' School Director Terry Richwine said. ''It would probably never be as cheap to do again.''

The board voted 7-2 to move forward with pursuing the agreement and setting the price limit. Some directors disagreed with part of the motion that stated that the money would come from capital reserves, so that language was deleted. Terry Richwine and Samuel Rhodes were opposed.